Texas School District Enhances Student Safety
With Advanced Security System
The recent nationwide rash of school shootings has brought school security to the forefront of most people's minds.
The headlines imply that violence has reached epidemic proportions in America. In fact, however, statistics show that youth violence is dropping and most schools are very safe places and are getting safer. Nonetheless, schools are cracking down, as middle America realizes “Columbine can happen here.”
Take the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) in Grapevine, TX, for example. The board of trustees at this Tarrant County school district has made security its top priority. During the past year, the board approved the installation of IDenticard System Inc.’s IDentiPASS access control system in 11 elementary schools and a middle school.
"The purpose of our security system is to maintain a safe environment in which students can learn,” explained Valerie See, director of special projects, GCISD. “It’s important that our students feel safe.”
The new security system is two-fold, providing both surveillance and access control. The school district has been able to customize its new system to meet the specific needs of each building by working closely with IDenticard’s local partner, Lone Star Communications in Grand Prairie, TX. Factory-trained on IDenticard’s systems, Lone Star distributes, installs and services the system at GCISD. “Lone Star has been extremely responsive to our needs,” said See. “They’re professional and easy to work with.”
With its comprehensive service agreement, Lone Star has assured the school district they will never have down time. “We guarantee service within two hours,” said Herman Tanner, sales manager, education group. “All products carry a warranty and if any unit needs to be serviced, we provide a loaner unit while the other is being repaired.”
The IDentiPASS system interfaces with a CCTV program, allowing the school district to monitor cameras at all buildings from a central location. See said IDentiPASS was particularly appealing because of its ability to link with GCISD’s existing video technology. Each of the cameras at any of the buildings also can be monitored remotely by an administrative user with authorization. “An authorized user simply needs a computer, secure password and internet access, to display the live image from any camera on his or her computer screen,” said See.
Digital technology also makes archive storage more convenient. “Our system records an image every five seconds, archiving all data for 10 to 12 days at a time,” said See. There’s no need for VHS tape storage because the data can be stored on disk. “The system’s software is easy to use and the time-sensitive search feature makes searching for information quick and uncomplicated,” said See.
When considering access control systems, the school district was concerned about losing its investment in its existing identification card printing program, which was only a few years old. “It was great to find that IDentiPASS would complement our ID badge system so we wouldn’t have to start all over,” said See. This link enables the school district to produce its own ID badges for faculty and staff, who use them to gain access to the building, even if they take a class outside for recess. All doors except the front door of each building are locked and can be automatically controlled by the computer that runs the system.
“The system is working quite well,” said See. “We’re in the process of installing it in our remaining three middle schools and our two high schools.”
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